


Hotel California

by buzuki



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Oneshot, backpacker!dahyun, receptionist!momo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 02:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17716331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzuki/pseuds/buzuki
Summary: Momo, a receptionist at a small hotel in a calm town thinks her days in the dead season will pass by with boredom. Backpacker Kim Dahyun isn't so sure about that.





	Hotel California

Hello dear readers! This one-shot is a reward to our patron J, so thank you s lot J <3 

~~You can also[become a patron](https://www.patreon.com/buzuki) and get a reward like this + a day early access to our stories~~

Enjoy!

 

* * *

 

 

It was more of an accident, really.

The day starts off as normal. The impatient ticking of the clock hung on the white-painted walls of the lobby is the only sound that’s audible. Momo sighs and hopes that her boredom dies down with the book that she had just started, an easy-to-read romance novel that makes her want to gag every few sentences with its cringiness. She then resorts to drawing on one of the notepads of the hotel, not very good but still keeping her occupied. 

Working on the dead season had its perks, the inescapable boredom not being one. Momo was free to take her lunch break earlier, she had more free time to study, as if she was serious about getting into college, and if she really wanted to, she could even go down to the hotel’s bar and get some free drinks, preferably not while on duty.

It’s this stable routine that makes Momo feel monotonous, as if she knows what will happen tomorrow since each one is the same old day.

She learns that life isn’t as predictable as she thought when a fair skinned girl with eyes that are a bit too curious for their own good walks into the small hotel lobby, making the wind chime at the door jingle with the unexpected visit. Her small frame is enlarged by the gigantic bag on her back, making it obvious to any observer that this girl is backpacking. 

Her brown hair, which is kept in a messy ponytail, falls on her shoulder as she gets the bag off her and leans it to the counter. She finally looks up at Momo with a smile, straightening her outfit with her hands as she speaks. 

“Hi! I would like the cheapest room you have for one.” She says blatantly, her Japanese is kind of rough-sounding yet grammatically correct. Korean, Momo would say if she had to guess, she sounded like that at least. 

Momo smiles back at the girl, not because she has to but because she kind of wants to. “Of course, we have a single bed economic room without breakfast or any other privileges that the hotel has to offer. It costs four thousand yen per night. Does that sound okay?” She asks, speaking a bit slower and clearer than usual to help, but not so much that the girl would realise and be insulted. 

“That’s awesome. I’ll take it!” She says, digging in her bag to find her money or passport, Momo guesses. When she fishes out both and hands them to Momo, Momo lets herself smile smugly. The girl was indeed Korean. 

Kim Dahyun. 

Momo types the girl’s information into the computer in front of her, the owners of the hotel were one of the first to switch to the technological age, thinking ahead. Momo rolls her eyes at herself, of course they should have a computer, the year is 1999 after all, almost the millenium. She, herself even saved up and bought one of those new mobile phones, the flashy Nokia 8210’s. She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel like a celebrity.

While her mind is preoccupied by her thoughts, the girl waiting at the other side of the desk pulls out her phone and starts texting somebody, her fingers tapping and moving between buttons in a speed Momo is yet to master. It is kind of odd, seeing a backpacking girl who just asked for the cheapest room possible to have a brand new phone. She’s even younger than Momo, as her passport states. Maybe a parent’s gift, she thinks to herself, going backpacking alone is a dangerous thing to do after all. 

After the computer gives green light to Kim Dahyun, Momo turns around and searches for the room key that she is supposed to give to the girl. When her eyes spots the key for room 107, she grabs it and turns to the preoccupied girl with a hospitable smile as her boss wanted. 

“Here you go, Kim Dahyun-san. Enjoy your stay here at Hotel California.” She says as she bows slightly. 

“Thanks…” Dahyun squints her eyes to read the nametag on the girl’s sweater. “Hirai Momo-san.” 

As she grabs the keys, her eyebrow raises in question. “Why California? Is it because of that song?” 

It takes Momo a second to register what the girl is asking, she won’t admit to herself that it was because she was too busy staring at the pretty girl’s face. “Ah, I don’t think so. The owner lived there before returning here to her parents’ hometown and opening this hotel. It’s a pretty cute reason.”

“Yes, really cute.” Dahyun says, her eyes hiding a naughty glint, suggesting to Momo that her words mean something else. 

Momo tries to hide her faint blush with a smile and offers help to the girl. “Would you like a hand with your luggage?” 

“It’s fine, I’m used to it.” The girl says, shouldering the backpack again. She groans a bit as the weight of it settles onto her petite figure. She is about to open her mouth to say something but Momo beats her to it. “I’ll show you to your room. The business is slow anyway.” 

The Korean girl mutters a thank you as she follows Momo into the corridor, wanting to say something obviously but hesitating. Momo takes the hint and asks as she gestures to the girl’s room. “Can I help with anything else?” 

“Oh, was just wondering if the hotel was crowded. It doesn’t seem so but you never know.” The girl says, turning the key and opening the door. 

Momo isn’t supposed to share this kind of information but she doesn’t care much considering the one asking is just a backpacking girl that looks as dangerous as a newborn kitten. “Oh, no. This is kind of our dead season, so it’s just a few resident employees, a European couple and you, Kim-san.” 

“Just Dahyun is fine.” The girl says almost instinctively as she sets her bag down once again. “I have a feeling I will be staying longer than planned, so it doesn’t hurt to make friends, Hirai-san.” 

“Call me Momo then, Dahyun.” Momo says, leaning towards the door frame, sensing that the girl wouldn’t mind if she didn’t act like the perfect employee. 

“As you wish, Momo- _ chan _ .” Says Dahyun, a little smirk settling onto her lips naturally, as if it was their neutral state. 

“I’ll leave you alone now, you should take a rest. Roads are tough.” She says, reaching to close the girl’s door. “You can call the lobby by pressing 0 if you need anything.”

“So, can I ring you up then, if I have a craving for peaches?” She asks, her eyes twinkling with the innuendo she just made. 

“I’ll hold the line open for when that happens then, Dahyun.” She says, her voice kind of high. She shuts the door and sort of rushes back to the front desk with her cheeks aflame. 

She didn’t expect this to happen when she clocked in this morning. 

Maybe the dead season would liven up a bit. 

 

**

 

It doesn’t take long before the phone at the front desk rings with its familiar tone. “Hello, this is Momo from the reception, how may I help you?” She answers with English, in case it’s the foreign couple calling. But then she hears a giggle through the phone. 

“That was cute, Momo-chan.” Dahyun says, her voice sounding a bit different on the phone. “Can you say that in Korean?” 

Momo snorts and leans back in her chair. “We don’t get Korean visitors much, there was never a demand for it.” 

“Well, now there is.” The girl says, smile evident in her voice. 

“One person hardly qualifies as demand.” 

“I can be persistent.” 

“That much is clear, Dahyun.” Momo says, twirling the phone cable with her index finger as she sets her foot onto the desk. “Did you need anything, by the way?” Momo asks, remembering what the line is actually for. 

“Just a cute girl to keep me company. It gets boring in my cheap room.” Dahyun jokes, flirting her way through the receptionist’s heart. 

“It’s not much different in the lobby.” She answers, not knowing how she would respond to the compliment. 

“What do you do around here to spend the time?” Dahyun asks, Momo hears some shuffling through the phone. 

“Read and listen to music, I guess. You came to a calm town, Dahyun, not much to do here.” She hears the other girl sigh. 

“What sort of music?” 

“Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Morning Musume, Celine Dion, Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki, that sort of stuff.” Momo says, flipping through her modest collection.

“We should listen to them together.” Dahyun says, voice seems tense, as if she’s testing the waters. 

“That would be great.” Momo says, trying to give the backpacking girl the hint that Momo wants to get to know her too. 

“How about I come there after I dry my hair? Will you be busy then?” 

Momo chuckles. “I haven’t been busy in two months. It’s fine.” 

“Great, will be right there.” Dahyun says with enthusiasm that makes Momo smile. 

“Can’t wait.” 

Dahyun does keep her promise and only keeps Momo waiting for six minutes and forty five seconds. Not that Momo counted. 

“Hi there.” Dahyun says as she skips towards Momo’s desk, her damp hair jumping around with her. Momo feels like scolding the girl, it’s risky to not dry your hair completely in the winter but decides against it. She kind of feels… things because of this domestic look of the younger girl, fluffy looking slippers with oversized shirt and sweatpants. Momo feels the unexplainable urge to lean forward and pinch her cheeks. 

“Hey.” says Momo back, trying to look cool, leaning back in her chair. 

“I’ve been promised music.” Dahyun says in a fake-voice that sounds like an irritated customer, that makes Momo giggle. 

“As you wish ma’am.” She says, reaching beneath the desk to pull out her CD player. She watches as Dahyun ducks under the table and sits on the chair next to her. “You know that you can lift that part to pass, right?” 

“A little adventure doesn’t hurt.” Dahyun says, looking kind of frustrated because of her silly action. “So, what were you listening to last?” 

“I Want It That Way.” says Momo, pressing play. The foreign song starts, as they both lean back in their chairs, getting comfortable. 

“You won’t get into trouble for this, will you?” Dahyun asks with a small voice, her eyes glued to the ceiling. She has a pretty neck, thinks Momo. 

“Nah. Other employees don’t really care, the owners are on vacation and the couple never really leaves their room.” She says, sneaking glances at the Korean girl. 

“Good, I don’t really like being alone.” Dahyun says, voice barely a whisper, as if she isn’t actually speaking with Momo. “And you seem really nice.” 

“Thanks…” says Momo awkwardly, singing along to the chorus as an excuse to stop talking. Dahyun laughs at her intentional voice cracks and weird pronunciations. 

“I take it back, your English isn’t cute.” Dahyun says, looking at her. She snorts when Momo frowns. “It’s not cute, it’s amazing!” 

Momo slaps her arm for her sarcastic tone in a playful manner. She somehow feels like they have known each other for a long time as they listen to music and chat about nothing and everything. 

That feeling only deepens as days pass by them in a hurry. The two girls make it a habit to spend their days together, talking, reading and jamming along to songs together, even going to the hotel’s bar after Momo’s shift and getting wasted that one night. Momo really can’t believe how neither of them caught a cold after they fell into the pool, piss drunk, in winter, and how she still has her job. 

She giggles to herself as she goes through the hotel records because the owner lady asked her to check a thing. She stumbles upon Dahyun's name, her check-in date pointing to 21 days ago. Momo scratches her head in surprise, she hadn’t realized that it was that long ago. Their days together felt a lot shorter than that, making Momo feel worry. This was a hotel after all, nothing and no one here was permanent. She could check out anytime she liked, but Momo could never leave. At least that’s what it felt like. 

She was pretty deep in her thoughts and the hotel records when she heard Dahyun come in with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head with a sleepy look on her face. “Good mooorning!” 

Momo smiles up at the girl, not taking her eyes of the computer, she still has a job to do after all. “Good morning.” 

“You seem busy.” Dahyun comments, hands toying with the small sandwich from a nearby bakery she bought yesterday to eat for breakfast. “I can come by later if you want.” 

Momo finally looks up to the girl, meeting her eyes properly. “I’m really sorry but I really do have to do some work. Is it okay if we hang out after my shift?” 

Dahyun smiles at her sympathetically, nodding. “I’ll see you at the bar then.” She says, turning around to return to her room. “Then I’ll head out, do want anything?” 

“Just you back safely.” Says Momo winking cutely at the girl, seeing her blush. 

“I see you don’t need any dairy, being cheesy yourself.” She says, sticking her tongue out to Momo before closing her door. 

Momo really doesn’t see her again that day, except for when she left the hotel, until they meet up at the bar around eleven. Dahyun is sitting alone, stirring the umbrella in her drink with an absent look on her face. She doesn’t look drunk but she is still lost to the world revolving around her. 

“Hey.” She says as she sits next to her. “How was your day?” 

Dahyun shrugs. “Normal, didn’t do much. You?” 

“Did my job, not much else.” Momo answers, she did what the owner lady asked her to and then she was pretty much back to sitting at the desk to welcome newcomers who never came. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

Dahyun raises an eyebrow in question as she gestures her to go ahead. 

“When will you check-out?” Momo blurts out the question that she had been holding since that morning. Dahyun laughs as she takes a gulp of her drink. 

“Why? Am I boring you?” She asks with a teasing glint in her eyes. 

“No… It’s just that… I’m getting too attached.” Momo says, looking away in embarrassment. “That’s not a good thing when you’re working in a hotel.” 

“Why? Do you think that one day I will check-out and we will never ever hear from each other again?” Says Dahyun, her voice kind of muffled as if she wants the reality of their situation to fade away from them. 

“That is what usually happens in hotels.” Momo points out. “You check-in, then out and go away forever. Permanence is rare here, not much reason to stay.” 

“I don’t know about that.” Dahyun says, eyes intensely fixed on Momo’s figure, “You are a pretty good reason.”

Momo doesn’t know what to say, saying that she doesn't believe so would do nothing. Instead, she chooses to stay silent. 

“I’ve been looking for a job and an apartment lately.” Says Dahyun casually, “I realized that I actually like it here. It’s calm, it’s away from… a lot of the things that I want to be away from.”

Momo only nods in understanding, still thinking it’s a daydream to be vanished soon. “You’ll be staying.” She blurts out, in a daze. Her voice has more of a questioning edge.

“Yes,” Dahyun confirms, leans a little bit closer this time, making Momo’s head spin. “I am staying.”

Momo lets a sprout of happiness grow inside her chest as she regards the younger girl’s serious expression. When she sees no hesitation or regrets, the sprout becomes a tree, one that Momo can lean on to readily. 

“That’s…” Momo struggles with her words, “That’s amazing, Dahyun!” She automatically reaches to the other girl and engulfs her in a tight hug, not knowing how to transmit her feelings any other way. 

When they part, a flock of questions huddle their way through Momo’s mind. “So, any luck with job hunting yet?”

Dahyun gives her a coy smile. “Yeah, actually! The local bookstore was looking for a new cashier. And here I am.”

“And the apartment?”

Dahyun shakes her head and huffs. “No luck with that yet.”

An idea strucks Momo in an instant, she can’t help but get excited. “I… I don’t have a roommate.” She suggests, and then immediately averts her gaze, scared of a rejection to come.

She feels Dahyun’s piercing gaze on her, the silence between them prompting Momo to look up. She’s watching her with an unreadable expression, eyes heavy with emotion. “I would love that.” She answers at last, leaning forward to take Momo’s hand into hers. “Thank you, you’re… really amazing.”

The thick atmosphere between them is altering their gravity centers, slowly pulling them towards each other. It’s only when their lips touch, Momo feels like this is more than an optimistic dream.

Just as she was about to deepen their close-mouthed kiss, Momo hears the bartender cough, separating them successfully. Dahyun blushes and gets up on her feet with a little jump, eyes looking outside the window. 

“It looks pretty cold out there, I don’t think you should go home this late. You can catch a cold.” She says nonchalantly. 

“Yes, maybe I should stay the night.” Says Momo, eyes sultry. “To not to catch a cold, i mean.” 

“Yeah, you should.” Says Dahyun as her fingers get intertwined with Momo’s. “I hear that the rooms are expensive though.”

“Hmm. Then we’ll just have to share yours.” 

Dahyun’s fingers shake a little with frustration and maybe a bit of alcohol as she unlocks her room door. “Yeah, we’ll have to do that.” 

Their giggles get muffled as their kisses and roaming hands get brave. The night reflects upon them through the mirrors on the ceiling, Momo catches the sight of her last intelligent thought that night on there; I can get used to this. 

  
  



End file.
